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Page 1 of 11 How the Reformation Came to Winchester and How Prior How the Reformation Came to Winchester and how Prior William Basyng became Dean William Kingsmill By Cathedral Guide, Andrew Payne Introduction William Kingsmill (usually spelt Kyngesmill) was admitted as a monk to the priory of St Swithun in 1513, taking on the new name of William Basyng. He was made prior of St. Swithun’s in 1536 and in 1541 he was appointed the first Dean of the newly constituted cathedral church. The Reformation of the Church in England in the 1530s and the Dissolution of the Monasteries had a profound effect upon all churches, cathedrals, abbeys and priories at just the time when Basyng/Kingsmill had reached the high office he so desired. He has been credited with saving the cathedral from destruction during this tumultuous period [1 p.97 – see Sources]. Barbara Carter Turner is more cautious; she concludes that “perhaps he saved the cathedral.” [2] There is no evidence that he did. I shall show that the cathedral church was not at risk of destruction. However, what is clear is that during his period in office most of the monastery estates were preserved for the future benefit of the cathedral. William Kingsmill survived the controversies and perils of the Reformation apparently untouched. His reformist principles never seem to have been tested. He was avaricious and thoroughly corrupt but perhaps it was this avarice which saved enough of the wealth of the monastery to guarantee a prosperous future for the cathedral. If so, the cathedral owes him a significant debt of gratitude. Page 1 of 11 Early Years Ten years after entering the monastery he was ordained priest and in March 1529 he received his Doctorate in Theology [3]. This lengthy period suggests that he was but a boy when he first became a monk. This is also born out by the fact that his mother was his principal executor when he died in 1549 (see later). If he had been born much before 1500 his mother could have been in her late seventies by 1549; a very great age at that time. Basyng first appears in the Letters and State Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII in November 1529 when the prior of St. Swithun’s, Henry Broke, and William Basyng, representing the Chapter, were summoned by Henry VIII to a Convocation [4 p.2697]. These were the only two men summoned from Winchester. The bishop, Cardinal Wolsey, did not attend Parliament or Convocation. He had been dismissed as Chancellor in October. Henry’s declared purpose for the Convocation was to stop the abuses of the Church and to combat Lutheranism, which he saw as a far greater threat. Whether Basyng actually attended is unknown. However it is quite clear, by virtue of this summons, that he had risen to some prominence within the monastery by this time. As will be seen he was ambitious. Over the next few years he moved closer to becoming prior. Convocation, incidentally, granted Henry a levy of £100,000 plus the cost of raising the levy (another £3444) for combating Lutheranism [4 p.2701]. This was an enormous sum, equivalent to the annual rent of about two and half million acres of good farmland [5]. The Beginnings of the English Reformation 1530 to 1535 Wolsey died in 1530 and Stephen Gardiner was appointed bishop in 1531. In 1532 Basyng took the Oath of Supremacy recognising Henry as supreme head of the Church in England, “as far as the laws of Christ allow”, and in 1534 he took the Oath of Succession, acknowledging the infant Princess Elizabeth and/or any subsequent children of Anne Boleyn as heirs to the throne. Page 2 of 11 In September 1535 Henry visited Winchester and helped himself to some “fine rich unicorns’ horns and a large silver cross adorned with jewels” from the cathedral [6 p.5]. He also took “certain mills” from the bishopric and monastery and handed them over to the community [6 p.5]. Understandably no-one objected. Cromwell, Henry’s newly appointed Vicar-General, came too. His agents were now scouring the land taking valuations of all Church properties in England for the “Valor Ecclesiasticus”. The primary purpose of this exercise was taxation. A tax of one tenth of the annual income on Church possessions had been granted earlier in the year. The gross income and taxable income for every church institution in the land was assessed and the tax payable recorded. These documents were transcribed and printed by Royal Command in the early 1800s. Volume 2 [7] provides the assessments for the diocese of Winchester, Salisbury, Oxford, Exeter and Gloucester. The documents are almost entirely in abbreviated “dog Latin”; there is no preface and no explanations but they provide a fascinating insight into the distribution of wealth at that time. Stephen Gardiner’s gross annual income is shown as £4191, his taxable income was £3804 (MMMDCCCiiij libra). This, incidentally, was more than the Archbishop of Canterbury whose taxable income was £3280 [7 Volume 1] . The taxable income of Henry Broke, the prior, was £1104 4s 4d and the taxable income of William Basyng (Hordarius et Coquinarii) was £208 9s 4d. The gross income of St. Swithun’s was £1762 19s 2d and its taxable income £1507 17s 2d, so the bottom line, the tax due, was £150 15s 8d. That, technically, is what the Crown was after, but this survey also showed Cromwell and Henry VIII how wealthy the Church was. Access to Church wealth became the primary objective of both Henry and of Thomas Cromwell and led, inevitably, to the dissolution. Although this Valor was before the policy of Dissolution of the Monasteries had been enacted, Cromwell’s Commissioners or “Visitors” were already carrying out vigorous tours of inspection of all religious houses, large and small, often accusing their occupants of either sexual misconduct, financial impropriety or the veneration of saints and other “superstitious” practices in order to dismiss them, fine them or seize their treasures. Winchester’s great wealth made it a highly significant target. Dissolution In keeping with the times complaints were raised against the prior, Henry Broke. In 1535 the vicar of Chilcombe in Wiltshire wrote to Thomas Cromwell complaining that Broke was demanding an annual income from the parish of two marks (26s 8d) to which Broke had no title [8 p.399]. That same year a monk named Myllys complained to Cromwell that Broke had prevented him receiving an exhibition (award) of £4 at Oxford as well as a “coverlet” worth 4 marks (£2 13s 4d) because he, Myllys, had spoken out against the veneration of saints with candles and smoke, against pilgrimages and, amongst other things, had denied that a monk’s cowl was holy [8 p.386]. In 1536 a much more serious charge was brought against Broke. On 14th March, Thomas Parry, an agent of Cromwell’s, informed Cromwell that “divers precious stones ... were taken out of the jewels of the house by the prior and four or five monks ... and sold to one Bestyan, a jeweller” of London. He added that Broke had been into other religious houses for the “like purpose”. Parry believed that “a little coercion would make him give up what he has got.”[9 p.193] Things moved very fast. On 16th March Basyng wrote to Dr Leigh, another of Cromwell’s agents, promising to pay Cromwell £500 “and more if required” if Cromwell could be “moved” on his behalf [9 p.197] and, on the same day, Parry informed Cromwell that he had persuaded Broke to resign, Page 3 of 11 he then recommended “Wm. Basing, D.D. a man of learning and a favourer of the truth, who never consented to the spoils and sacrilege here committed, and who for your favour herein will give you £500. He will [also] raise your fee here from £10 to £20 yearly ...” [9 p.195] Basyng seems to have been appointed prior with immediate effect. On 21st March, Broke “the late prior of St. Swithin’s” wrote to Cromwell that he had been unjustly forced to resign because of certain “alleged dilapidations” at the property and begged for a pension from the revenues of the priory [9 p.205]. At this point Basyng must have become seriously embarrassed. He didn’t have the £500! On 31 March he wrote to Cromwell sending him only £100, “because my predecessor has left me in debt to the King and others ...” but he promised to provide Cromwell with the necessary sureties that the remainder would be paid over time [9 p.233]. Cromwell’s accounts for 1537 to 1539 [10 p.318- 327] show that Basyng paid him the best part of the outstanding sum over the next three years as follows: 1537: May £50, July £50, October £10, December £50 1538: February £50, May £10, July £50, October £10, December £50 1539: May £10, November £10 In total he had paid Cromwell £450. Perhaps Cromwell was executed before a final payment could be made. £500 was a huge sum. It represented the annual rental of about 12,000 acres of good farmland [5]. One hundred quality riding horses could be bought for that sum [11]. Who today would give the price of 100 horses to secure a lucrative position? Basyng had pledged an enormous amount of money to secure the position he coveted; a sum totally out of accord with his vow of poverty and very much in accord with his soaring ambition. To put this sum in context, as the Dissolution of the Monasteries progressed, most monks and nuns were awarded pensions.
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